Animal-trap



W. A. BOPP.

ANIMAL TRAP.

APPLICATION msn MAH. 22. 1920.

1,366,282. Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

W. A. ROPP.

ANIMAL TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22, |920.

1 ,366,282. Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 WALTER A.. nor?, or, GIBSON C'I'T'Y, rrnnvos.

ANIMAL-TRAP.

Specealtin of Letters Patent. Patented J all.y 1K8, 1921..

Application filed March 22, ,1920; Serial No. 367,803:y

` T 0 all whom 'it may concern Be it known-that I, VALTER A. Rorr, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Gibson City, in the county of Ford and State of Illinois, have invented certain new. and useful Improvements inAnimal-Traps; and I do hereby'declare the following to be a full,

clear, a-nd exact description of the invention,

such as will enable othersskilled in the artto which it appertains to make and fuse the sa1ne.-.V *Y

This inventionrelatesy to animal traps and it consists in the novel features hereinafter described and claimed. l

An object of the invention is to provide a trap of 'siinplef and-.durable structurey espe'- cially adapted to be used for capturing small animals as `for instance rabbits,- rats, mice and the like and with this objectv in Vview'the trap' comprises a body closed at one endby a perforated head. Abar is disposed trans#v versely'across thejbody inthe vicinity of the head and spaced therefrom and is adapted toretain the bait in position in the body.V The said bar'is removable from the body kin order that fresh bait may be placed therein anda securing' device is provided for holding! the bar in position transversely across the body. A door is hingedly. mounted at the opposite end ofthe body and is adapted to-assume an inclined position therein with its' free edge'y resting upon the ,bottom of the` body-1 lMeal-ns are provided `for protecting the hinged edge portion of the door against the' accumulation of snow and ice. An ad-i `Justable trigger ot especial design 1s mount`Y ed upon the body and 'adaptedto hold the door in an elevated position.y Wing members are pivot-ally attached tothe hody in the vicinity of that lend thereof at which the door i'smo'unte'd and may be' used foranchoring ythe body to the ground and-also serve asl leads for directing the animals into the' trap. In the accompanying drawings: Y Figure l is a'sectional view takenonv a plane extending (':entrally and longitudinelly through' a trap constructedin accord-- ance with my'inventin. Y ;Fig.r2 is a sectionalview taken on the vertical plane indicated by the line 2"-2of Fig.l

3, looking in arrow.

Fig.- 3 is a top plan view of the trap YFig. 4 is a view illustratingthe clip einployed to secure the pivot rod of the door in place and illustrating the mannerin which the direction indicated by the the the pivot rodis secured in theV ployed to secure the bait. retaining rod in place and illustrating the manner in which the arm of the rod issecured in the clip.

Fig. 6`A is a detail view in side elevation of the trigger, and

Fig. 7 is atop planview of the trigger supporting bracket. i i A The trap comprises a body 1 which may be made of lwood, metal or any other material suitable for the purpose. The body' is closed at its rear end by a head 2.whichis provided with a plurality of perforations 3. A bar 4s extends transversely through the sides of the body 1 in the vicinity of the head 2, and it is adapted to retain the bait 5 in position against the head 2. The bar 4 is provided with an angular arin 6 by means of which it maybe applied to secure the bait in place and by means of which it may be removed when it is desired to place new bait inthe trap. After the bar 4 has been appliedits arm 6 is swung into the loop 7 of a clip 7 to prevent its accidental displacement. As shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings the upper side of they loop 7 'is open, and extendingv over the open side of the loop isa .pin 7b which prevents the arm 6 from being accidentally' swung out of the loop. Topermit the arm 6 to be swung into or out ofv the loop 7 itis only necessary to pull the front side oi the loop outwardly beyond the outer end of the guard pin 7*.V

An inclined shield 8v is located at the top of the body 1 at 'the front or entrance end thereof to prevent snow and rice entering the body. A door 9 is pivoted'at its upper end to a ro'd 10 which extends transversely across the body 1 at the entrance end thereof provided at one end with an angular arm 11 which provides vmeans by which it may' be applied and removed. The arni 11 is reiovably positioned in the loop 12 of a clip 12, andA such v'clip' secures the rod 10 in place against accidental displacement.V As shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the upper side of the loopY 12 is open, and extending over the open side thereof is a pin 12" which pre- 5 is aview illustrating the clip emvents theY arm 11 Afrom beingk accidentally coil ofl wire 17 -is positioned.Y The coil 17 is secured to the varm 16 by its ends which eX- swung out of the loop. l/Vlien itis desired to swing the arm 11 into or out of the loop 12 Vit is only necessary to pull the Vfront side of the loop outwardly beyond the outer end Vof the pin 12b. p y v v When" `the door isv Closed it occupies "a downwardly and rearwardly inclined position with its lower or free end resting upon 'theY bottomiof the body y1. Thel door isV adapted to be releasably supported in Vopened position vby rotatably. and slidably mounted in an opening 15?L adjacent one side thereof.

comprises a horizontal arm 16 upon which a tend through the arm. lThe verticalfai'm `15 Aof fthe trigger is provided with' a plurality of relatively spaced notcheslS, and its upper end with a handle 19. A bracket 20 which is secured to the top ofthe body 1 at the Afront side of the vertical-'arm 15 of the trigger isprovided witli'a forked end y21V adapted toy receive any one of portions: formed by the notches 18 iin the vertical arm 15v 'of the trigger. rlhe bracket 2O rotatably supports the trigger so that it may beV manually turned to position'` its horizontal arm 16 'in 'door supporting position.

'l nVthen the arm 16 of the trigger is in door supporting position it extends transversely across the body 1, and the free end of the door 9 rests thereon, as shown in'Figs. 1 and y 2 ofthe drawings. VVVhenan animal enters the trap its'baclr Vengages the coil`17, and as the result the trigger is turned on the arm 15as a pivot, and when the arm 16 and the coil 17 are swung clear of the lower end of the door v9 the'latter falls into' closed posif tion trapping the animal. In order to pre- 'l one sideof the body 1 and engages the rear,l side ofthe arm 15, as shown in Fig. 2 of the- 5o drawings; As the vertical arm- 15 of the vent the arm 15 of the trigger from being swung out of'engagement 'with the fork 21V of the bracket 20 during the operation of the trigger by an animal, a pin 13 is carried by trigger is provided with a plurality ofv notches 18, and as this arm has a: detachable engagement'with the fork 21 of the bracket 2(1),th'e horizontal arm 16 of the trigger may be'supported at various distances from the ,bottom ofjthe body 1, and asv the result Y thereof the trap may-be set to catchanima'ls of different sizes.

,60 22 arepivotallyconnected VVing'members tothebottom of the body 1 adjacent to the entrance end thereof as at 22.v The wings a trigger 14. lThe trig-` vger comprises a vertical arm 15 which is formedvin thetop of the bodyflV The trigger also the reduced i Vof the'door.

the body 1 and may serve as leads for directinganimals to the entrance of the trap. AS shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 of the drawings, stakes or pegs may be inserted through the openings 24 and driven into the ground to anchor or secure the trap at anyV desired point. `v

ln setting the trap, the trigger 14 is rotated through the medium of the handle 19 to swing the horizontalarm 16 out of the path ofk thefree end ofrthetdoor 9. -The door 9 is then swung upwardly, 'andthe trigger 14 is thence swung to position the horizontal arm'l beneath the freeend of` theV door. On entering the trap,-an animal engages 4the coil'l?V upon the horizontal arm 16, andas Vthe lresult turns the trigger 14 about the vertical arm 15 as a pivot. When the animal reaches a point inwardly beyond the free end ofA the doormember, the horizontal arm 15 will have been moved beyond the'free end of the door, resulting-in the` door gravitating in closedposition and the trapping-of the animal. Y To permit the trap to be conveniently carried, ahandle 25 is secured tov the top .wall of the body 1.

Having described .the invention what -is claimed is:;' f 1 1. A trap comprising a body, a perforated head closing one end thereof, a bar disposed transverselyV across tliebody-in the vicinity of the head and spaced therefrom and a clip mounted upon the'lexterior lof the body and engageable with the bar to hold the same againstlongitudinal movement.

2. 'A trap comprising a body, bait retaining' means-'located therein, a shield located in an inclined position. over the entrance to the body, a door hinvedly mountedinthe body and having its hinge located under the shield, a trigger member for Aholdingthe free end of the door in anelevated position,

wings pivotally connected-'with thefbody and adapted to befdisposed at angles withA v Y;

relation to the sides'thereof.

trap comprising al body, a door` hinged therein, atriggermember forhold-` ing the door in anelevatedposition, :wing

members pivotally connected with the bodyV l at the yentrance end thereof Yand having flanges at their lower edges 'and/means engageable withv the flanges and adapted to Vanchor the wings tothe ground.

4. .A trap comprising a body, Y a :door

:hinged at its upper en dywithinthe body, and

a trigger having a Vvertical'arm rotatablyv mounted inthe top ofthe bodyandia'horiy zontalarm located withinrthekv bodygand adaptedto `releasably support the free end V5. A trap comprisingY a body, aldoor hinged at its upper end within the body, a trigger having .averticalV arm rotatably mounted in the top of the-body andv a horizontal 'arm located. within fthebody and iso adapted to releasably support the free end of the door, and a coil mounted upon the horizontal arm.

6. A trapl comprising a body, a door hinged at its upper end Within the body, a trigger having a horizontal arm vlocated within the body and adapted to releasably support the free end 0f the, door and a vertical arm, and means engaging the vertical arm to rotatably support the trigger andato permit vertical adjustment of the trigger. Y

7. i trap comprising a body, a door hinged at its upper end Within the body, a trigger having a horizontal arm located Within the body and adapted to releasably support the free end of the door and a vertical arm having a plurality of relatively Vhorizontal spaced notches, and means carried by the body engaging in one of said notches to rotatably support the trigger.

8. A trap comprising a body, a door hinged at its upper end Within the body, a trigger arm located within the body and adapted to releasably support the free end of the door, and means for rotatably and adjustably supporting the trigger arm.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

WALTER A. ROPE.

Witnesses:

JOHN C. MCCLURE, W. A. DAVIDSON. 

